This invention relates to an actuator which may be used in a print head for the printing of characters made up of dots, lines or the like, or for the punching of holes in a record medium.
The actuator of this invention may typically be used in a matrix print head of the wire matrix variety. A wire matrix printer which is shown in British Pat. No. 1,288,710 utilizes a plurality of clapper type armatures for actuating the associated print wires and a plurality of leaf-type springs for returning the armature to a home or rest position. One of the disadvantages of a printer like the one just described is that a relatively large number of parts is necessary to manufacture the printer, resulting in an expensive production cost. While the wire matrix printer shown in the German Pat. No. 2,154,568 is of a more simple construction, it requires a plurality of "U"-shaped magnets and "tongues" to actuate the associated print wires, also resulting in expensive production costs.
In contrast with the above, the actuator of this invention contains a minimum number of parts to produce it, resulting in very economical production cost. In addition, the spring means associated with the magnet means is used both as a means to drive the associated actuator element (like a print wire) and as a means for completing a magnetic flux path associated with the magnet means.